Heklina


Heklina is the stage name of Stefan Grygelko, an American actor, drag queen, and entrepreneur in San Francisco. Grygelko's mother is Icelandic, and having been born in the U.S., he lived in Iceland in the 1980s; he named his drag character after the Icelandic volcano Hekla. Heklina founded the drag club Mother in 1996.

Career

Mother (formerly Trannyshack)

Heklina co-founded Trannyshack, and has hosted the show from its inception in 1996 at the Stud bar and continues to host the special events throughout San Francisco and in other – mainly California – cities. Trannyshack is the longest running drag event series in San Francisco. On January 17, 2015 at The Oasis, Trannyshack was rebranded as Mother, evolving from a monthly to a weekly event series.
She also co-produces and co-hosts the Miss Trannyshack Pageant widely considered the premiere annual drag event in San Francisco that has sold out every year since inception.

Theater and community actitivites

Heklina also acts in local theater productions, most notably the S.F. Golden Girls productions and emcees a variety of community and charitable events including the Folsom Street Fair and San Francisco Pride. She was voted Community Grand Marshal of the 2004 San Francisco GLBTQ Pride Parade, and won the 2009 Pride Creativity Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the LGBT Community. She was sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Heklina co-stars in a series of short films, the "Tran-ilogy of Terror", drag queen horror spoofs written and directed by long-time collaborator Peaches Christ., and also starred in the film "Baby Jane?".

The Oasis

The Oasis, a theater and cabaret nightclub located in San Francisco's SOMA district, hosted a grand opening event on New Year's Eve day 2014. Heklina and three business partners, D'Arcy Drollinger, Geoff Benjamin, and Jason Beebout, signed a deal to purchase the former Oasis nightclub in October 2014. The nightclub's diverse programming features drag stars, cabaret and performing artists, live musical acts, and DJs.

Filmography